Multimodal booking
PURPOSE: to simplify EU-wide travel booking by establishing a common regulatory framework for multimodal digital mobility services.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: this proposal, together with draft regulation on rail ticketing and revised regulation on rail passenger rights, aims to address the difficulties travellers face when searching, comparing, combining, and booking multimodal journeys in Europe.
Although many multimodal travel options exist, digital mobility platforms rarely display or combine different transport modes effectively, making booking difficult. A 2024 Eurobarometer survey showed that one third of EU citizens had never booked a multimodal journey, while many users experienced problems finding suitable connections or purchasing all tickets in one place, especially for rail travel.
The proposal aims to improve transparency, ensure fairer conditions, and create a more level playing field in the digital ticketing market across air, rail, road, and water transport. It also seeks to make all available travel options, including multimodal ones, easier to access, thereby improving the competitiveness and sustainability of the transport sector.
The proposal supports the EU’s 2024–2029 political priorities and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, which seeks to make transport more competitive, sustainable, and multimodal.
CONTENT: the Commission proposal establishes a framework to facilitate multimodal and multi-operator passenger mobility through the deployment and use of business-to-consumer multimodal digital mobility services and business-to-business digital mobility services. It lays down common rules for cooperation that ensure a level playing field for providers of multimodal digital mobility services, business users of such services, as well as the transport operators providing the underlying transport service. It also sets out rules on information to be provided by those providers to business users, end users and public transport authorities.
The regulation distinguishes between two categories of provider:
1. B2C MDMS (business-to-consumer platforms selling directly to travellers);
2. B2B MDMS (platforms serving travel agents and travel management companies, i.e. the successors to traditional computerised reservation systems).
Designation of providers with significant market presence
B2C MDMS providers meeting volume and value thresholds defined in Annex I of the regulation must notify the Commission (for Union-level designation) or the relevant national enforcement body (for national-level designation). They must also, each year, inform the Commission and the Member State of their establishment, of the number and value of tickets sold per transport mode per year per Member State.
Commercial agreement conditions
Indispensable B2C MDMS providers and all B2B MDMS providers must, when entering commercial agreements with transport operators, prohibit exclusivity clauses, protect commercially sensitive data, and ensure remuneration is set on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. B2B providers must additionally offer non-discriminatory access to their distribution facilities. Agreements with business users must not impose unjustified technical or contractual conditions; small enterprises may terminate agreements after one year on three months' notice.
Neutral display and ranking criteria
All MDMS providers must display transport products in a neutral and comprehensive manner. Default ranking criteria include final price, travel time, GHG emissions, CO₂ equivalent emissions, departure time and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Emissions information
MDMS providers must display clear, transparent and accessible information on the GHG emissions or CO2 equivalent emissions, as applicable, of transport products, wherever such information is made available by transport operators.
Sharing of data with public transport authorities
B2C MDMS providers must, upon request, supply aggregated and anonymised passenger volume data to public transport authorities for the purposes of transport planning and sustainable mobility policy.
Enforcement
Each Member State must designate an independent national enforcement body with adequate resources. Enforcement jurisdiction follows the provider's place of establishment. National enforcement bodies cooperate through a Commission-coordinated network meeting at least annually. Penalties are set by Member States and must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. A complaints mechanism is provided for operators, MDMS providers, business users and public transport authorities.
Equivalent treatment of third-country air carriers
Air carriers from the Union and from third countries should be given equivalent treatment regarding B2B and B2C MDMS services.